In clinical electrocardiogram (ECG) machines that record multiple ECG leads, ECG electrodes are connected to an ECG device using electrical cables and electrodes. Multiple ECG leads enable a physician to “view” the heart from different directions to diagnose a heart condition. However, this method of recording requires accessories like disposable electrodes and ECG cables and it is difficult to set up and remove.
New generation Personal ECG monitors (PEMs) try to solve this usability problem to some extent using two metal electrodes disposed on the device itself. To record ECG, a patient has to either hold the device in his hand or touch it to his chest, so that the metal electrodes touch his body, picking up a single ECG lead.
PEMs with embedded electrodes offer convenience but are severely limited in diagnostic capability since they usually do not measure more than one ECG lead. A single ECG lead is not sufficient to detect heart conditions like ischemia and infarction because in standard clinical practice, doctors are trained to diagnose a heart condition by analyzing 12 ECG leads, which gives them a “view” of a heart's electrical activity from different directions. As a result, though conventional PEMs with embedded electrodes offer simplicity, they lack clinical diagnostic efficacy because they cannot measure all 12 ECG leads.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.